Hisham Matar
Author of In the Country of Men
About the Author
Hisham Matar was born in New York City in 1970 to Libyan parents. He grew up in Tripoli, Libya, and Cairo, Egypt. His novels include In the Country of Men and Anatomy of a Disappearance. His memoir, The Return: Fathers, Sons and the Land In Between, won the Pulitzer Prize for show more biography/autobiography in 2017. He also won the 2017 PEN America Literary Awards/Jean Stein Award for The Return: Fathers, Sons and the Land In Between. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Works by Hisham Matar
Associated Works
Lunatics, Lovers and Poets: Twelve Stories after Cervantes and Shakespeare (2016) — Contributor — 35 copies
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Canonical name
- Matar, Hisham
- Birthdate
- 1970
- Gender
- male
- Nationality
- USA
Libya
UK - Country (for map)
- Libya
- Birthplace
- New York, New York, USA
- Places of residence
- New York, New York, USA
Tripoli, Libya
Cairo, Egypt
London, England, UK - Education
- Goldsmiths College, University of London (MA)
- Occupations
- college professor
poet
essayist
novelist - Organizations
- Barnard College
- Awards and honors
- Fellow, Royal Society of Literature (2013)
Flaiano Prize (2007)
Pulitzer Prize for Biography (2017)
PEN/Jean Stein Book Award (2017)
Rathbones Folio Prize (2017)
National Book Critics Circle Award for Autobiography (2017) (show all 7)
Premio Libro Del Año, Gremio de Libreros de Madrid (2017)
Members
Reviews
Lists
Awards
You May Also Like
Associated Authors
Statistics
- Works
- 10
- Also by
- 6
- Members
- 2,704
- Popularity
- #9,503
- Rating
- 3.9
- Reviews
- 127
- ISBNs
- 143
- Languages
- 14
- Favorited
- 2
Khaled also meets a poet who greatly influenced his life as a young man. Hosam is also in exile in London. The three men become very close friends. This is a story about friendship and love of family as Khaled is so worried about his parents that he delays telling them about his wounds.
The story is so well written, interesting in that I learned a lot about Libya and about the fear and loneliness of being away from the country where one grew up.
One great passage so relevant today: "...who managed to remain independent, part of that silent army that exists in evry country, made up on individuals who had come to the conclusion that they live among unreasonable compatriots and therefore must, live grownups in a playground endure the chaos until the bell rings, resigned to the fact that this may come long after they are gone. (page 122)
I would have given this 5 stars, but I was left a big underwhelmed with the conclusion.… (more)